Good managers listen and try to understand the difference between a person complaining because they’re closer to the problem and a person complaining because they are the problem.
I would say that people who complain generally do it because they are not happy. Nobody purposely do it as a way to get attention. Nobody says "I will make sure to bother everybody so that they hate me, because I love it".
Doesn't mean they are not the problem: sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. So I join you on:
> Good managers listen and try to understand the difference between a person complaining because they’re closer to the problem and a person complaining because they are the problem.
I have seen people complain because they somehow hated their coworkers (they had a very different view of what "good code" meant). A good manager would look for a solution, like moving them in different teams. A bad manager doesn't act (it's useless to listen if you don't act on it).
This is why I hate managing people - I hate having to deal with all the egos and trying to empathize with everyone to try to get a sense of where they are coming from just to judge what's important or not, and weighing political impact of different calls. Code is simple by comparison.
My most productive time is when a manager is honest and willing to explain how the whole thing fits together.